


Perfect Blue

by Nalanzu



Series: Ninjas Don't Need Coffee [2]
Category: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: Canon Compliant (Mostly), Horror, M/M, Nightmares, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 22:11:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13622541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nalanzu/pseuds/Nalanzu
Summary: The only way to beat this team is to break them down - from the inside out.





	Perfect Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Also from 2004; the ship is more background than anything else.

_Prologue:_

“Tori!” 

Dustin threw himself at the Blue Wind Ranger and knocked her aside just as Shane and Hunter thundered past the two of them, shouting at each other and apparently bent on some macho-type display of superiority. Blake followed at a slower pace, eyeing his brother dubiously. 

“Sorry,” he offered sheepishly. 

Tori waved a hand dismissively. “They’ll get over it.” 

“Yeah, when Lothor starts knitting lessons,” Dustin grumbled. “Man, can’t they keep it outside?” 

Blake peered up the steps leading to the exit. “I think they just did.” A particularly loud crash made them all wince. 

“You’d think they’d want a break after what Lothor’s been pulling lately,” Tori mused as the three of them turned back towards Ninja Ops. 

Yet another loud sound cut off Blake’s reply before he started it, and every light in Ninja Ops simultaneously shut off. 

“Uh, guys?” Tori’s voice floated out of the dark. 

“CyberCam!” 

A flashlight flicked on, shining in each of their eyes in turn. Dustin held up a hand to ward it off. “Chill, man, he’s not here.” 

“That’s the problem,” Cam muttered, and turned the flashlight towards the console. “That last attack must have overloaded the circuits.” He paused. “Where are Hunter and Shane?” 

The sound of voices more than adequately answered his question. “I _told_ you, it was – hey, what happened to the lights?” 

“Thank you for joining us, Shane.” Cam looked at him pointedly. “And you too, Hunter.” Shane had the grace to look slightly abashed; Hunter just returned Cam’s stare. “I need you guys to clear out for a few hours.” 

“What for?” Hunter asked, folding his arms across his chest. 

Cam glanced around the room with just as much emphasis as the look he’d given Hunter only a few moments before, gaze lingering on the slightly smoking console. “Out. Don’t come back until I tell you.” 

“Do you want help?” Tori offered tentatively. True, none of them knew nearly as much as Cam did about the systems and how they worked, but they could do _something_. 

“No.” Even for Cam, his tone was unusually curt. It was probably wiser to simply back down and come back later on when his mood had improved. Cam had had a shorter fuse since he’d been caught inside a burning building trying to save the Thunder Rangers. The general consensus was that it was due to stress, but with Lothor hammering them on a near-daily – and occasionally twice-daily – basis with monsters, it was unlikely that any of them would be getting any form of stress relief any time soon. 

The five of them therefore filed quietly out of the darkened Ninja Ops. Only Blake noticed that Hunter stayed behind for a moment, and that Cam did not snap at him for it. No sooner had they gone through the portal towards Blue Bay than Sensei’s voice sounded over their morphers. 

“Rangers. One of Lothor’s army is terrorizing the city. Get there as soon as you can.” He signed off without so much as waiting for a reply. 

“Stress is getting to him, too,” Shane muttered. “Let’s go, guys.” 

Though Sensei had not told them where in the city the monster was, it was ridiculously easy to find. It seemed to be trying to cause as much destruction as possible in the shortest amount of time. Oddly, not one of Lothor’s generals was in sight, nor were his nieces or their inevitable swarm of Kelzaks. 

“Let’s do this,” Hunter cut Shane off and raised his wrist. Shane glared at him briefly, but didn’t argue. “Thunder storm, Ranger form!” 

“Ninja storm, Ranger form!” 

The five of them moved in a near-perfect unison borne of experience, calling on the flood of Power that would yet again help them take down the monster in front of them and save their city. 

Nothing happened. 

Dustin tapped his morpher again. “Dude, did we, like, break them or something and I missed it?” 

Shane ignored him. “Cam!” 

The morpher crackled, proving that it’s communications ability was mostly unimpaired. “What? I’m a little busy, Shane!” 

“Our morphers don’t work.” 

There was dead silence for a moment from the other end. Blake and Hunter moved to stand between the Wind Rangers and the suddenly inexplicably peaceful monster. 

“Why isn’t it attacking?” Hunter asked in a low voice. 

Blake shrugged, just as Cam’s voice came through the morpher again. “Get back here as soon as you can. The entire system’s down.” 

“We can’t just leave!” Shane objected. 

The monster grinned. 

“You can and you will! You can’t do any good without –“ 

Hunter barely saw it coming, and shouted a warning to Blake just as the monster barreled towards them. It knocked them both aside with almost frightening ease and headed straight for Dustin. Dustin dodged the attack and used the monster’s own momentum to fling it towards the nearest wall, casting a brief glance of thanks towards Hunter. The monster reached its feet before the Thunder Rangers did, but the Winds were easily a match for it. 

Shane spin-kicked it towards Tori, who met it with a quick succession of punches to its torso. The monster staggered and turned just in time for Hunter to deliver a flying kick that sent it down hard. It hit the ground several feet away and did not move. 

“There’s something wrong.” Blake pulled himself up, using the wall for support and clutching his side as though in pain. “Too easy.” 

“Hey, bro.” Hunter was at his side in a second, fingers gently exploring the damaged tissue. “Cracked ribs and you call it easy?” Shane and Dustin, both several feet away, started jogging towards the two Thunder Rangers. Tori hung back, apparently trying to reach Cam again. 

With everyone’s attention on Blake, no one noticed the monster climbing silently to its feet and preparing to launch itself at Tori except Blake himself. Just as he saw it, it sprang, and he had no time to do anything other than shove Hunter aside and knock Tori away. 

Just as she fell, the monster emitted a cloud of stinging white smoke. One by one, the Rangers staggered and coughed, trying to reach the edge of the noxious fumes and make sure their teammates made it with them. It only took a few minutes for the smoke to disperse, but when it did, its purpose was finally clear. 

Both Blake and the monster had vanished. 

* * *

_First Iteration_

“Don’t move, Ranger. You’ll only make it worse.” Lothor chuckled as he spoke. 

Blake ignored him, trying to pull himself into a sitting position despite the sharp pain stabbing through his side. It took him a few minutes before he figured out that he couldn’t move because he was restrained, and he stopped trying. He couldn’t speak, either; something that felt like a gag was in his mouth. 

Lothor laughed at him again, before turning away. Blake could hear him upbraiding the monster; it wasn’t as if Lothor was trying to keep his voice down, and even if he were, the ship echoed. 

“You brought me the wrong Blue Ranger! Can’t you see the difference between navy and turquoise?” 

Blake felt a grim sort of satisfaction that he had thrown a kink into Lothor’s plans, even if it meant that he was now stuck on Lothor’s ship, at his mercy. He stopped listening to Lothor berate his incompetent monster and instead concentrated on his surroundings. He was on what he remembered served as the bridge and general meeting area; when he and Hunter had been brainwashed by Lothor, they’d spent a lot of time here. It didn’t look as if it had changed much. 

The occupants of the room, too, were much the same; Kelzaks and monsters. Lothor’s nieces were again conspicuously absent, and Blake worried for a moment that they were on Earth stirring up trouble. 

Then again, Lothor’s nieces were even more incompetent than his monsters. They couldn’t possibly do _that_ much damage, even if the Rangers were down a member and without their powers. 

No, at the moment Blake was more worried about what Lothor was going to do to him than what he might do on Earth. He knew from experience that Lothor would view him as a distraction, a tool, and he would leave the Rangers alone until he could throw Blake against them as a weapon. 

Blake wasn’t about to let that happen again. 

If he could get free of the restraints, he thought he could probably make his way off the ship. A tiny corner of his mind told him that he was overestimating his chances; he was injured and in enemy territory with no idea of the terrain. He told it to shut the hell up and tried to surreptitiously ease back on the pressure against his arms. 

Lothor, unfortunately, saw what he was doing. 

“Didn’t I tell you not to move?” 

Blake glared at him. 

“You’ll make it worse,” Lothor said, sounding almost gentle. “If you don’t lie still, you’ll puncture a lung.” 

Of course, he wouldn’t want his tool damaged. Blake didn’t particularly want to _be_ damaged, when it came down to it, but he had to escape. He settled for ostentatiously rolling his eyes and refusing to look at Lothor. 

“Chuubo!” Lothor called. “Get over here!” 

“Y-yes, Master?” 

“He’s injured. See what you can do for him.” Lothor pointed at him, the tip of his finger barely grazing Blake’s side. Blake tried to suppress the instinctive wince at the sudden ripple of pain, but Lothor saw it anyway. 

“But he’s a –“ Chuubo started. 

Lothor casually blasted him, sending Chuubo tumbling across the room. “Was I unclear?” 

“N-no, Master.” Chuubo scrambled to his feet and towards Blake. Mechanical fingers slit his shirt and peeled the fabric back. Blake couldn’t see what he was doing, and after the initial rush of cold air, he couldn’t feel it either. Gag or no gag, he was about to demand to know what Chuubo was doing, when a wave of warmth spread outwards from the injured area, pulling numbness in its wake. With the numbness came a feeling of utter lassitude, and Blake felt himself relax completely. 

He could feel Chuubo unbuckling the restraints and taking the gag out of his mouth, but he couldn’t seem to make himself care. Part of him was shouting to get up, run, escape before Lothor subverted him _again_ , but it was strangely distant, as if it wasn’t really a part of him. After only a few seconds, it faded into nothing, and Blake simply stared at the play of light across the ceiling. 

He wasn’t sure how long it had been when he finally began to notice that someone was speaking to him. With difficulty, he focused on the figure bending over him. It was Lothor. He couldn’t summon up the will to respond, however, and Lothor turned away. 

“Chuubo! You gave him too much! He’s not a Kelzak!” 

Without Lothor speaking directly to him, Blake’s attention drifted again. He felt wonderfully warm and safe, wrapped in a sense of blank euphoria. The voice that had shouted at him to run started up again, telling him that this was wrong, that he was a prisoner, that Lothor was going to do terrible things to him, that he needed to escape. 

He had just enough energy to find its persistence slightly annoying. Why wouldn’t it leave him alone? Instead of fading away, though, it was joined by more voices, shouting his name. Someone grabbed him roughly and he moaned in protest. That same someone lifted him and his surroundings started to change. The motion made him feel sick, and he closed his eyes against it. It didn’t help much. 

The tranquility was starting to bleed away now, replaced by a growing sense of fear and pain. He buried his face in his abductor’s shirt, trying to gain a sense of equilibrium. 

“It’s all right, bro.” That was Hunter. Hunter was carrying him. Everything was going to be fine. 

Time seemed to stretch oddly; one moment he was on the ship, and the next he was in Ninja Ops, fighting a growing sense of nausea as Chuubo’s drugs – or whatever they had been – wore off. Cam was bending over him, shining a tiny light in his eyes. 

“His pupils are dilated, dude,” Cam said, his voice sounding as if it were coming through layers of water. Between that and the bright light, the nausea peaked and he struggled up to make a dash towards the bathroom. 

Cam, displaying remarkable presence of mind, pulled him at a faster pace than he would have made on his own, and stayed with him as his system purged itself. 

“Better now?” he asked quietly after a few moments. 

Blake nodded, and Cam handed him a paper cup of water. 

“Your ribs were healed,” Cam told him matter-of-factly as he rinsed his mouth. 

“Lothor… he wanted to…” 

“I know, man. They’re, like, keeping you in isolation until they know there aren’t any side effects or anything.” 

Blake simply nodded, relieved that Cam understood. He didn’t _think_ Lothor had had the time to pull any stunts, but Lothor was a devious opponent. 

Back outside, Cam peered into Blake’s eyes again and felt his forehead. Blake noticed the silly hat for the first time. “CyberCam?” 

“Dude, you didn’t recognize me?” CyberCam looked visibly affronted. Of course, if they were watching him, none of the others would come near him. Only CyberCam would probably be immune to whatever he might try to do to the Rangers. “Cam said you were way out of it.” CyberCam shrugged. “Looks like he was right.” And that was the last thing Blake could get out of him, not that he tried particularly hard. 

Cam kept him in isolation for a week running various tests, during which time he noted no monster attacks at all. It made Blake nervous, as he was almost certain Lothor had some evil plot with him at the center of it, but nothing happened. 

Shane and Dustin were chatting in the corner when he walked into Ninja Ops on the day Cam finally let him out, but Hunter was nowhere to be seen. The room quieted as soon as he stepped through the door, and the looks that Shane and Dustin gave him weren’t quite friendly. 

“Guys, I’m not going to bite,” he said lightly, trying to defuse the tension. It didn’t work. They just kept looking at him. Blake tried changing the subject. “Where’s Hunter?” 

“Track,” Dustin said finally. 

“Thanks.” He could be polite, even if – especially if – the Winds had decided to rediscover the stick up their collective asses about the Thunder Rangers. Even if Dustin, who could usually be counted on to be friendly, was looking at him as if he were some sort of weird and potentially dangerous insect underneath a microscope. _Yeah, a ninja bug._ “See you around,” he added. 

Neither of them answered, and he could all but feel their gaze on his back as he left Ninja Ops. “Weird,” he muttered. “Way weird.” 

He couldn’t find Hunter at the track when he got there, even though it was almost deserted. The late afternoon sun shone benignly down on the scant few spectators and riders, lighting everything in a soft gold. It looked almost perfect. 

Blake’s musings were abruptly interrupted as a pair of arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him into a bonecrushing embrace. Instinctively, Blake tried to drive an elbow into his attacker’s abdomen, but the grip around him was too tight, and he couldn’t even move to twist free. Just as he was about to drive his heel downwards at his opponent’s feet – dirty tactics, but he was getting dizzy from the lack of air – the grip suddenly slackened. Blake spun around, hands up and ready to defend himself, only to face a smirking Hunter. 

“You’re okay!” Hunter exclaimed, stating the obvious. 

“Well, I was a minute ago,” Blake returned, rubbing at his aching ribs. “Warn a guy before you do that.” 

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Hunter gave him a searching look. “They wouldn’t let me see you. I was worried.” 

And he must have been, Blake reasoned, because Hunter almost never talked this much. “Naah, it’s cool, bro.” 

They started walking, Blake just following Hunter, although it didn’t seem as though he had a specific destination in mind. “So what’s been going on this past week? CyberCam wouldn’t tell me anything. And what’s up with the guys, man?” 

Hunter looked at him oddly. “What do you mean?” 

“They were acting weird, bro. I dunno how to explain it.” 

Hunter shook his head. “I think they’re fine.” 

“If you say so.” Hunter stopped and Blake nearly ran into him. “What?” 

“Do you hear that?” 

“Hear what?” But then he heard it too, a shrieking whine that was getting louder by the second. Clouds poured into the sky, whirling around a single point of white light. The wind rose, too, adding its own roar and gaining in strength until Blake had to clutch at Hunter to stay upright. “What’s going on?” 

Laughter boomed out from the stormclouds, familiar laughter. Blake would have known it anywhere, but it was here that he had feared hearing it the most. 

“Lothor.” 

* * *

Hunter stared up into the clouds, eyes narrowed in something very like hatred. “Let’s go.” 

“What?” They didn’t even know what Lothor was _doing_ yet. 

“It doesn’t matter what he’s doing,” Hunter said in an uncanny mirror of Blake’s thoughts. “He’s here and we’re going to kick his ass from here to Aquitar and back.” 

Here to where? Blake shook his head. “Got it. Let’s get the Winds-“ 

“We don’t need their help.” 

Apparently it wasn’t just the Winds with this metaphorical stick thing. “Hunter, we can’t take on Lothor alone.” 

“Are you bailing on me, Blake?” The look Hunter gave him was truly frightening; it was what Hunter might have looked like had he never opened up to the Wind Rangers. It was as if he were looking at the Hunter that he had seen his brother nearly become, before Dustin, Shane, and Tori. And Cam. Especially Cam. 

“No,” Blake replied automatically. Creepy or not, Hunter still led and he still followed. In any case, Lothor-in-the-sky-with-lightning was a much more immediate problem than an uncharacteristically grim Hunter. “But I still think this would go down better if we worked together.” 

“We do this alone.” 

Right, then. Hunter looked around, probably to make sure no one was watching them. The few people who hadn’t run were staring transfixed at the sky. “Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!” 

The center of the disturbance was right over the heart of Blue Bay Harbor; the two of them streaked towards it as fast as they could. Before they could reach it, a pale green mist started oozing from the pinprick hole at the center of the energy dome overlaying suddenly solid clouds. As Blake watched, it split into hundreds of tendrils. Each one shot with unerring precision towards some target. 

“Come on!” Hunter said roughly, and Blake realized that he had faltered to a stop. He shook his head and raced after his brother. When they got there, the city itself was eerily silent. Hunter slowed to a walk just before they would have reached open ground, and then paused. “Look,” he whispered. 

Bodies littered the ground, unmoving. Each had a tendril of smoky green fastened around the neck like a leech, pulsing with energy. Blake rushed forward, intent on severing the nearest with his staff, but just before he reached the civilian, the body turned gray and dissolved into dust. The tendril withdrew, waving back and forth as if searching for a new source of energy. 

“You…” Words failed him, and Blake slashed at the tendril. His staff passed harmlessly through it, but not without effect. The tendril stabbed towards him with the speed of a striking cobra, and only Hunter’s last-second tackle saved him. 

“Don’t _do_ that,” Hunter said roughly. “Come on!” 

Once out of sight of the tendril, it appeared to ‘forget’ about him, and turn its attention elsewhere. “What _is_ that?” Blake whispered. 

“I don’t know.” Hunter glanced up and down the street. 

“Maybe we should call for backup? Bro?” There was only a slightly sarcastic overtone to his voice. 

“We can handle this.” 

“No, we can’t.” Energy-leeching clouds were _not_ on his list of ‘What To Expect From Lothor’. 

“Give me your Antler.” 

“ _What_?” 

“Blake, give it to me. _Now_.” 

Blake handed his weapon over to Hunter, watching mystified as Hunter combined it with his Blaster to make the Thunder Blaster. “What are you _doing_?” 

“Watch and learn, bro.” Hunter sounded remarkably smug. “Just follow my lead.” He set the weapon to fire and hurled it at the opening in the clouds at the last possible second. At least five tendrils latched onto it instantly, but they weren’t enough to stay its momentum. The Thunder Blaster exploded, sending a concussive shock wave rippling across the city. 

The tendrils shuddered under the impact at their source, but Blake couldn’t see that anything else had happened. “Bro-“ he began. 

“Now!” Hunter shouted, and leapt for the sky. 

Blake had learned over the years to trust his brother. He followed without question, staff held at the ready. At this point, he wasn’t surprised to see the energy dome crack. Nor was he surprised to see Hunter swing up over the top and stand on top of swirling intangible mist. He _was_ surprised to see that the Winds had beaten them there; the three of them were riding the storm gale on their brightly colored Ninja Gliders. 

The Winds landed next to Blake bare seconds after he had regained his balance, but they paid no attention to Hunter, and only Tori so much as glanced at him before looking away. Blake frowned. This wasn’t right. The Winds and the Thunders were supposed to work together. 

“Five little Rangers, all in a row!” a delighted voice boomed down from the clouds. “And look what I have to show you!” 

Tendrils of smoky gray rose up from the mist at their feet. Blake jumped out of the way, but the tendrils weren’t reaching towards him. They spiraled upwards into the darkened sky, catching a limp bundle falling out of the blackness. Blake couldn’t see what it was; the gray mist surrounded it, obscuring his vision. He stepped forward, trying to see more clearly, but it was a wasted effort. The tendrils dropped their burden roughly on the ground a few meters away and withdrew. 

“Cam!” Tori rushed forward, throwing herself over the prone figure in green. “Cam, wake up!” Cam wasn’t moving, and for all Blake could see, was making no response to her pleading. 

The remaining Winds turned to glare in the direction of Lothor’s voice, every line of their bodies expressing anger and hatred. Tori, too, stood to face him. 

“Show yourself, Lothor!” Shane yelled. “Stop hiding like a coward!” 

“Is that the way it is.” Lothor sounded amused again, but once again the smoky tendrils snaked upwards. Lothor rode them down looking like some kind of ancient demon descending from the sky, lightning crackling garishly around him. “You think you can face me?” 

Shane didn’t bother to respond in words. In response to a signal Blake hadn’t even seen, the three Winds rushed forward in a coordinated attack. He followed, feeling Hunter just behind him. 

Here, at least, Blake felt some sense of camaraderie still at work; the five of them moved in the smooth rhythm it had taken countless hours of training to achieve. Tori and Dustin moved together to distract Lothor. As he turned to block their physical attacks, Shane used his elemental energy like a weapon to score a blow on Lothor’s now unprotected midsection. 

Blake took the next opening; Lothor had been wounded – however slightly – and was just slightly off-balance. He swept his Thunder Staff towards Lothor’s legs, but Lothor kicked the staff out of his hands. Hunter dove to the side, using Lothor’s momentum against him to deliver another strike to his unprotected side. 

Lothor staggered and righted himself, energy crackling in his palms. “Is that the best you can do?” The words were his own attempt at distraction, but Blake barely heard them. Instead, he was watching Lothor’s hands. Even before Lothor had finished speaking, twin bursts of force shot straight towards the Rangers and Lothor dodged to the side. 

Blake skidded sideways and grabbed for the end of his staff. The movement brought him right in the path of a third bolt of energy. Desperately he swung the staff upwards, knowing it wouldn’t make it in time. At the last second, he felt himself shoved aside. The bolt hit Tori instead, but she didn’t fall. Her blaster dropped out of her hands, melted and barely recognizable. “Ow,” she muttered. 

“Thanks.” Blake scrambled to his feet, staff at the ready, and looked at the others. 

Dustin and Shane had apparently dodged; both were unharmed and their weapons were intact. Hunter had been grazed by one of Lothor’s attacks, but he was still standing. “Bro,” Blake called out anyway. “You okay?” 

“Never better.” Hunter brushed one hand against the scorch mark on his suit. Blake could almost hear him smirking. “Let’s finish this.” 

“Finish?” Lothor mocked. “You’ve barely begun.” With a start, Blake realized that a twilight-like gloom had descended. The only illumination came from the unpredictable flashes of lightning studding the sky. “You can’t fight what you can’t see, Rangers.” 

“Same to you, buddy!” Dustin snarled. “You can’t see us either.” 

Blake heard the sound of something solid hitting flesh, and Dustin clearly bit back a cry. “Oh, but I can see you. Your energy glows like a nuclear power plant!” 

“Energy…” Someone whispered. It took Blake a second to realize that it was Cam. A sudden thought penetrated his relief that Cam was still alive. _Where did he come from?_ “That’s it!” Cam’s shout pulled him away from his musings. “Everyone, demorph and use the energy of your elements against him!” 

Shane started to protest, but Lothor’s howl of rage and the several blows falling around them in quick succession must have changed his mind. “He’s right, guys! Let’s do it!!” The three Winds separated, their suits melting away. Lothor’s attacks continued to fall around them, and it was nearly all they could do to dodge. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hunter muttered, but he demorphed anyway. Blake nodded. Lothor wouldn’t have gone all out if Cam’s suggestion hadn’t had some merit to it. He dropped to his knees and shoved Hunter away just before a blast of energy would have decapitated both of them. “This is _crazy_!” 

“Uh, Cam…” Dustin said uncertainly through the chaos. “Where, um, where do we shoot?” 

It was pitchblack now. Even the light generated by Lothor’s increasingly frequent attacks wasn’t enough to see by, and Blake knew it was only a matter of moments before one of them made a mistake and was hit. Without their suits, such a blow would almost certainly be fatal. 

“Let me focus it.” Cam was walking steadily towards them, enveloped in a green glow. The pendant around his neck shone almost white, clearly the center of his energy. The three Winds nodded at each other and each of them sent a beam of light towards him. The glow intensified as Cam kept coming. 

“You can’t-“ Hunter began, but Blake kicked him. 

“Do it,” he hissed. “It’s our only shot!” 

Lothor seemed to agree; most of his attacks were now directed at Cam. Cam didn’t even seem to notice; he walked through the deadly rain of energy as if it were nothing. Blake sent his own energy, felt Hunter’s distinctive signature entwined with it. The pendant was glowing white-hot now, and Cam’s face was contorted in pain. The sky began to shake, but Blake kept the energy flowing. 

With a scream, Cam set the power loose, firing it in one eclipsing shot at Lothor. It exploded as it hit, and all hell broke loose. 

* * *

When it was over, Blake wasn’t quite sure why he was still alive. He had vague memories of the Winds’ gliders ripped to shreds, and of Hunter’s maroon cycle hovering above him. His next clear sensation was earth beneath his back, and sunshine on his face. He blinked, took a breath, and coughed. Hunter dragged him to his feet. “Easy. It’s okay.” 

“What…” His voice failed. “What happened up there?” 

“Lothor’s gone.” Hunter’s face was completely nonchalant as he announced the demise of the enemy they’d been struggling with for the past year. 

“How?” 

Hunter shrugged. “Cam did something with that pendant.” 

“Is he okay?” 

Hunter shrugged again. “The pendant isn’t. Melted. Cam should be fine, probably.” 

“Don’t you want to go see or something?” Now that he could look around, he saw that they were just outside Blue Bay Harbor. 

“Why?” Hunter stared at him uncomprehendingly, the beginnings of irritation showing in his features. 

“Because he’s your friend?” Blake stepped away from his brother. “Because we work with the Wind Rangers, remember? Like when you got me off Lothor’s ship?” 

“They only did that because a Ranger under one of Lothor’s spells was too much to risk. They’re not our friends, Blake! Why can’t you see that?” Hunter was as angry as Blake had ever seen him. 

“Back off, man.” Blake raised his hands placatingly. “I’m not against you.” 

“Just keep that in mind,” Hunter said sullenly, but he had calmed down. “We only worked with the Winds against Lothor because he was worse. Got it?” 

“Yeah,” Blake returned mildly. “I got it.” Hunter’s attitude was highly disturbing, not least because he had seen it reflected in the Winds. As far as he was concerned, something was seriously wrong, and it hadn’t gone away with Lothor. He was just going to have to go behind Hunter’s back to figure out what. 

* * *

Ninja Ops was dark when Blake got there. He stepped inside, cautiously, just in case someone was there anyway. He hadn’t gotten more than two steps before feeling something sharp and pointy at the base of his throat. 

Blake took a stab in the dark, metaphorically speaking. “Lighten up, Cam, it’s only me.” 

Whatever Cam was holding to his throat retracted slightly. “What do you want?” 

Blake had hoped that Cam, not strictly affiliated with either the Wind Ranger powers or the Thunder Ranger powers, wouldn’t be as affected by the malaise plaguing the rest of his teammates. “Something isn’t right.” 

“Blake, we just defeated _Lothor_. What could possibly be wrong?” 

“Yeah, but… we’re not a team any more.” 

“You think the guys are acting weird, is that it?” Cam pulled the blade back from his throat. 

“Yeah, I do. We were supposed to be friends. What happened?” Blake rubbed at his skin, surprised to feel a drop of fluid welling up. 

“When do you think this started?” Cam’s tone was completely neutral; Blake couldn’t tell if the other boy was humoring him or agreed with him. 

“After Lothor nailed me,” he answered promptly. He had first noticed something wrong when Cam had let him out of isolation. “I don’t know if he got to them right after you guys broke me out of his ship or what, but that was definitely it.” 

“Lothor, huh?” Cam murmured. “You think everyone is acting weird, or…” 

“Hunter, Shane, Dustin… I haven’t even seen Tori, and if that isn’t off I don’t know what is. Come on, Cam, this isn’t right. It’s like Hunter and I can’t even get into Ninja Op-“ Blake didn’t even see Dustin coming. One second he was talking to Cam and the next he was on the ground underneath a very angry Yellow Ranger. 

“What kind of game are you playing, Blake?” 

“I’m not!” Blake protested. He could see Shane and Tori standing behind Dustin. “Tell him, Tor!” 

“Nobody messes with me or my friends,” Dustin growled. 

“Hunter.” For a moment, Blake thought Hunter had come after him, but Cam was speaking into his communicator. “Your brother is trespassing. You can have him back when we’re finished.” Cam switched the communicator off before Hunter had a chance to reply. 

Dustin slid off Blake and Shane hauled him to his feet. In what seemed like seconds, Blake found himself stripped to the waist and bound to something very large and ominous, with wires connected to his wrists, temples, chest, and legs. He had barely had time to try to resist. _How did they move so fast?_

“This might hurt,” Tori said, smiling. It was the same smile she always gave him. “Feel free to scream.” 

Blake stared at her openmouthed, unable to believe what was happening. It wasn’t possible, it wasn’t real… 

“Here goes.” Cam flicked a switch. 

It felt as though red hot needles were climbing through the wires attached to his skin. The other Rangers started laughing as he struggled, trying to break free. After a few moments, the heat and the pain began to spread out, until he was aware of almost nothing but the haze of agony and a scream that he knew was his own. The unceasing laughter of the Rangers battered against his ears, somehow all he was aware of outside himself. 

At the very moment he knew he couldn’t take another second, the world shimmered and dissolved. 

* * *

_Second Iteration_

Blake opened his eyes and shot straight upwards, nearly knocking his head on the bottom of the bunkbed above him. Immediately, his body protested the sudden motion and he fell backwards again, staring at the very familiar outlines of the room he and Hunter sometimes shared in the back of the Ninja Ops complex. 

Laughter sounded from the other room, voices belonging to the other Rangers. It sounded eerily like… had what he’d just experienced been a dream? It had to have been. The others would never tie him down and torture him. There was something else, though, something important. Just before he’d awoken, he thought he’d heard a voice. He just wasn’t sure what it had said. The phrase “nightmare, not dream” and the word “try” were all he could remember, and even the sound of the voice – terribly familiar – was slipping away. 

The door creaked open. “Hey, you awake?” This voice he had no trouble placing. 

“Hunter?” It surprised him how difficult it was to say that one word. 

“Yeah, bro, it’s me. No, lie back down.” Blake had struggled upright as Hunter had approached. 

“What’s going on?” Blake let Hunter push him back down. 

“Do you remember the monster you saved Tori from? The smoke it spit out?” At Blake’s nod, Hunter continued. “There was a virus in it. You… were pretty sick. But you’re okay now, bro. Just relax and get better, all right?” 

“I was sick?” The more he spoke, the easier it got. 

“It’s all right.” Hunter had taken hold of his hand and was rubbing it absently. 

“Lothor didn’t kidnap me?” 

“What? No way, man.” Was it just his imagination, or did Hunter look uneasy? 

“I thought…” Blake shut his eyes for a moment. “I dreamed we destroyed Lothor, but everyone was acting so…” 

“You were pretty messed up, Blake.” Hunter’s hand stilled, and he gave Blake a serious look. “I’m glad you’re okay. Now get some sleep.” 

“I feel better,” Blake offered. “I wanna see the others.” He couldn’t quite shake his dream, the feeling that there was something wrong with the other Rangers. 

“Not yet.” Hunter brushed the hair off Blake’s forehead with the barest trace of an almost affectionate smile. “Rest now.” 

Blake felt unaccountably tired as soon as Hunter stopped touching him. “Okay,” he said. Hunter smiled at him and stood up. 

Blake gave in to his exhaustion. Just before sleep took him, Hunter turned away and Blake thought he saw the silver glint of something metallic buried in Hunter’s lower back. _What…_ But he had only just registered its presence before his eyes closed irrevocably. 

* * *

The sound of laughter woke him an indeterminate amount of time later. He blinked a few times, momentarily unable to place his surroundings. Then he remembered. He was in Ninja Ops, and Hunter had told him he’d been sick. _How long…?_

The door swung open again, slowly. “Hey, you awake?” 

“Hunter?” Of course it was Hunter. It was like he had little-brother-radar or something. He started to sit up. 

“Yeah, bro, it’s me. No, lie back down.” Hunter was limping slightly as he walked across the room, something Blake hadn’t noticed before. 

“What’s up?” Blake let Hunter push him back down again. 

“Do you remember the monster you saved Tori from? The smoke it spit out?” Hunter didn’t wait for Blake’s answer before he continued. “There was a virus in it. You… were pretty sick. But you’re okay now, bro. Just relax and get better, all right?” 

Blake frowned. “Hunter, you already said that.” 

“It’s all right,” Hunter said. He reached out for Blake’s hand, and started rubbing it soothingly. 

Blake pulled his hand away. “You said that too. What’s going on?” 

“You were pretty messed up, Blake.” Hunter gave Blake the same serious look he’d seen before. “I’m glad you’re okay. Now get some sleep.” 

“Okay, that’s it.” Blake scrambled out of the bed, keeping it between himself and his brother. “Where’s everyone else?” 

“Not yet,” Hunter said, smiling slightly. “Rest now.” His expression looked much less benign the second time around. 

Blake circled towards the door. Hunter was almost between him and it, but he thought he might be able to make it. “Where’s everyone else?” 

“Not yet.” Hunter was still smiling. “Rest now.” 

Blake lunged towards the door. Hunter was faster than he was, and Blake skidded to a halt. “Get out of my way, bro. I don’t want to fight you.” 

“Rest now.” Was it his imagination, or had the color begun to drain out of Hunter’s face? 

Blake darted forward again, but this time he grabbed the front of Hunter’s training uniform and executed a near-perfect throw. Hunter rolled to his feet as he had done hundreds of times in practice, but before Blake could get through the door, Hunter stumbled. Blake paused. “Hunter?” 

Hunter coughed, a deep painful sound, and blood began to flow from the corner of his mouth. Blake watched in horrified fascination as Hunter tumbled to the ground, still wearing the same fixed smile. A shuriken was embedded in his brother’s back, and now Blake could see the spreading bloodstain across Hunter’s side. “Hunter!” 

Hunter wasn’t moving. Blake thrust his instinct to go to his brother’s side away; he didn’t have the expertise to deal with such serious wounds. _Get help._ He could still hear the other Rangers laughing in the main area of Ninja Ops. 

“Guys!” They were still laughing as he skidded into the oddly darkened room, Dustin and Shane facing Tori. “Guys! It’s Hunter!” Cam sat facing an unlit console, fingers motionless on the keys. 

None of them paid him any attention. Blake rushed towards Dustin, the closest. Light flooded the room as Blake pulled Dustin around to face him. The laughter cut off abruptly, and Blake let go and stumbled backwards in horror. 

Dustin’s eyes were glazed over; that was the least of what was wrong. A deep furrow ran from his left temple across his face to the base of his jaw, but it hadn’t bled much. It and the gaping wound directly over his heart had stopped bleeding when he died. 

Blake dragged his eyes away from Dustin to look at Shane and Tori, but they were no better. Shane’s left arm was broken, the white bone splintering through the skin, and his throat had been cut. Tori was soaking wet, her skin a pale bluish white. Desperately, Blake sought out Cam, but for the first time he realized that though Cam’s hands were on the keyboard, his face was already directed towards the center of the room. The four of them stared at him with unseeing eyes, and started moving towards him in perfect synchronization. 

Blake backed away, his brain trying to cope with what his eyes were showing it and failing miserably. For some idiotic reason, only one coherent thought rang through his mind – _how the hell is Cam walking backwards like that?_

His retreat was abruptly halted by a set of hands clamping down on his shoulders. The panicked babble of his thoughts shut down entirely, and all he knew was that he really didn’t want to turn around. He did it anyway. 

Hunter’s dead face stared down at him, filmy white eyes above his bloodstained mouth. “Why did you do it, Blake?” His voice was raspy, and Blake could see the handshaped bruises around his brother’s throat for the first time. 

“Why?” came a chorus of other voices from behind him. Blake threw a glance over his shoulder. The rest of the Rangers had formed a circle around him, and it was closing in. “Why?” they whispered again. 

“Wh-“ his voice failed, and he tried again. “Why what?” 

“This.” Shane drew his broken arm across his throat. 

“This.” Dustin caressed the gash over his chest. 

“This.” Cam reached behind himself to draw his hand over his face. 

“Th-“ Tori started. 

“Enough already!” Blake clamped down on the hysterical laughter fighting to get out. They were almost close enough to reach him. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t! I didn’t kill you!” 

“Don’t you remember?” Hunter had never sounded this cold, not when talking to him. “Lothor took you away, and when you came back, you were his.” They all started whispering, words he couldn’t make out. With the words came images; he could almost see himself holding Tori underwater until she drowned, snapping Cam’s neck… 

“No…” There was nowhere to run. “No, it’s not possible…” Blake sank to his knees, hands over his ears. The whispers continued unrelenting, showing him dragging a blade across Shane’s throat and turning to bury it in Dustin’s chest. 

Their hands brushed against his shoulders his back, trapping him. “Noooooo!” he screamed, and he was barely aware of his surroundings shimmering again. 

* * *

_Third Iteration_

“Get away from me!” Those were Hunter’s hands on his shoulders, his brother’s hands, dead flesh touching his skin. “Don’t touch me!” 

“Blake-“ 

He sensed rather than saw a break in the circle surrounding him and he threw himself through it. Hunter’s grasp slipped more easily than he’d thought it would, and he stumbled at the unexpected lack of resistance. It didn’t matter, though, because there was nowhere to run. The room itself had changed, had brightened and collapsed inward. Everywhere he looked he saw only blinding white light. 

“Blake-“ It was Hunter’s voice again, and Blake scrambled to his feet. Hunter was coming towards him. He couldn’t take it, not again. If Hunter touched him again, it would drive him out of his mind. 

“Stay away from me!” He backed away, squinting, trying to see through the brilliance, but all he could make out was a vague shape. “Stay away!” He felt something solid behind him and realized that he’d hit a wall. There was nowhere left to go. 

Someone moved off to his left, and Blake tensed. His heart pounded, blood racing in a fruitless cycle, the sound rushing through his mind in a frantic litany. _donttouchmedonttouchmedonttouchmedont-_

A hand grabbed his arm, a voice began to speak. “I’m sorry, but –“ the rest of the words were lost in his frantic struggle for escape. It wasn’t Hunter, no, his brother had abandoned him completely and left his retribution in the hands of the others. 

“Let go!” He couldn’t move. They were holding him down and the light was shining in his eyes. They were going to hold him like this forever, bury him alive, and Hunter was just standing there watching it happen. Blake screamed, words lost in pure desperation. He never felt the tiny pinprick that sent him spiraling once again towards oblivion. 

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly, sliding inwards piece by piece. Memory came with it, but Blake choked off his initial impulse to run and stayed as still as he could. He didn’t want to give the dead any reason to suspect that he was awake. He couldn’t hear them, though, not even the sound of breathing. _Idiot. Corpses don’t breathe._ He couldn’t feel them, either, not with his physical senses and not with the sixth sense that all ninjas possessed. 

_Are they gone?_ It didn’t seem quite possible. A second thought, more disturbing, took its place. _Am I… dead?_ Most of his mind felt murky, oddly restricted, as if he kept running into some type of wall. Without any other alternative, Blake opened his eyes. White light – thankfully muted – shone down from a white-tiled ceiling. He looked at it for a moment, trying to place it. It seemed almost familiar, beyond the familiarity that came with such generic white tile, but he was at the same time certain he’d never seen it before. 

Cautiously, Blake tried to sit up and look around. His attempt was rudely interrupted by the well-placed restraints across his chest and arms. _What?_ He lifted his head as far as he could and looked down. He was indeed alone, but heavy straps had been buckled across his body in several places. He tested his arms, and his legs, finding that he had been effectively immobilized. No amount of tugging would break the straps. 

After several minutes of trying, Blake slumped back and pondered his next move. The terror that had gripped him earlier had receded, leaving him completely detached. _Where am I?_ It was impossible that Lothor had him; they had defeated Loth- no, they hadn’t. That had been a dream. Or had what followed been the dream and the first been reality? _Think, Blake, think._ It would be easier if his thoughts would just stay ordered, but they kept slipping. 

“Cam, if this is your idea of a joke, I swear…“ His voice sounded muffled, as if the walls were absorbing it. Blake craned his head around, trying to see his surroundings. All he could see was a white door in a white wall, nothing further. There was no answer from Cam, though. Blake started to doubt his tentative theory. Fear started to return, but he clamped down on it. It wouldn’t help him. Instead, he concentrated on clearing his mind. It felt like it took time, far too much time, to perform the basic exercise of quieting his thoughts. He had intended to try meditation – never quite his strong suit – but he couldn’t do it. Irritated with himself, he finally gave up on the attempt. The worst part was, he still had no idea where he was or what was going on. 

The sound of the door opening was almost a welcome distraction. A single person entered the room; a woman, dressed in white. She smiled down at him, a comfortingly cheerful sort of smile. It made Blake want to run as far away as he could. She smiled wider when Blake winced away from the light she tried to shine in his eyes. “You’re awake. Good.” Her voice, high-pitched and girlish, resonated oddly. “Your brother insisted on seeing you.” 

_Hunter._ Blake closed his eyes briefly. 

“Let’s go.” She dimpled at him, an expression that should have been cute. It wasn’t. 

It felt odd to stand up. For a brief moment, vertigo swept over him, and Blake put a hand against the wall to steady himself. He shrugged off the woman’s attempt to help, though, and made his way slowly to the door. 

“Right,” she all but sang out from behind him. “This way.” 

She led him down a white-tiled hallway. It was so clean that it shone; he could see subtly distorted reflections in the floor and ceiling as if they were covered with mirrors. The doors, too, reflected his own face back at him, stretching into eternity. After a few seconds, Blake tried not to look. It was disconcerting, and his reflection… it looked wrong. 

The woman unlocked a barred door at the end of the hallway, nodding to a pair of white-clad men standing opposite each other. It was a completely surreal scene; the three of them beamed at each other as if they were performing the most fulfilling action they could possibly think of. Blake followed the woman through the door, acutely aware that the bars themselves splintered his mirror image into thousands of winking pieces as he passed through them. 

Hunter was waiting for him in yet another white room, sitting uneasily on the edge of a chair. As soon as Blake was brought in, he jumped to his feet. “Blake?” Hunter’s voice sounded strange too, but it was the most real thing he’d heard since waking up. The bruises around his throat were gone. 

“You’re not dead.” Blake hadn’t meant to say anything at all; the words simply slipped out before he could stop them. “You’re alive.” Relief swept through him. _My brother is all right._ Everything was going to be fine. Hunter would tell him what was going on. 

Hunter threw a nervous glance and a shaky smile at the woman in white. “I’m fine, bro.” Blake shuddered. Just as his brother had spoken, the building itself had shaken. “What’s wrong?” Hunter asked. 

“Didn’t you feel that?” It was darker than it had been a moment ago. 

“Sit down.” Hunter took Blake’s arm and steered him towards a chair. Blake abruptly realized that his hands were bound in front of him. “Is that better?” 

The room shook again, and Blake leapt to his feet. “Something’s going on.” He could see in the brighter light from the window now that the walls were beige, not white. 

“It’s nothing,” Hunter said, shooting another glance at the woman. Blake automatically did the same. The woman had lost her impossibly cheerful demeanor; she was unobtrusively checking her watch. 

Blake ignored her and leaned in closer. “Hunter, if Lothor’s attacking the city, we all need to deal with it.” He pulled at the straps around his wrists. “Lemme go.” 

An expression of sorrow spread over Hunter’s features. “I thought we were through this, bro.” 

“Through…?” Blake blinked, puzzled. “Hunter, what’s going on? Why won’t you untie me?” There would be time enough for explaining why he was restrained later. 

Hunter took him by the shoulders, searching his face. “Do you remember anything?” 

“Like what?” Blake looked at him suspiciously. That was a very odd question for Hunter to ask. 

“Okay, what’s the last thing you remember?” 

“I…” What _was_ the last thing he remembered? Seeing his friends’ bodies in Ninja Ops, defeating Lothor, the monster that had captured him… “Ninja Ops, I think,” he said finally. “And before that, fighting Lothor. But you said it was a dream, bro.” 

Hunter pulled him suddenly into a fierce hug. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

_What?_

“You’ll be fine.” Hunter pulled back. “As soon as you know it’s not real.” 

Blake eyed Hunter dubiously, but Hunter seemed serious. “What’s not real?” Blake ventured after a few moments. 

Hunter looked at the woman. “I thought he was better.” 

“I’m afraid there’s been a relapse,” she said regretfully. Blake glared at her. Her voice was dripping with insincerity; Hunter should have picked up on it, too. Instead, Hunter simply nodded. “We’re going to have to try a different form of treatment.” 

Comprehension dawned. “Treatment? I’m not crazy!” Blake leapt to his feet, backing away from Hunter. “Tell her!” 

“Blake, I…” Hunter looked away. That was enough for Blake. His brother never backed away from anything. Ergot, this was not his brother. 

“You’re not Hunter.” He glared at the facsimile. “None of this is real. It can’t be.” It had to be another dream, more illusion in a line of illusions. Without warning, he darted towards the door, shouldering both the pseudo-Hunter and the woman aside. 

A door leading outside was just to his left. Bare feet skidding on the polished tile, he ran for it and threw his weight against it. It opened. Blake was through it before the surprised guard on the other side could react. Sunlight poured down around him, and he instinctively squinted, but he couldn’t stop. He had to get out of the line of sight of the building. There were trees not far away. He changed direction to head towards them, sure that he could climb them easily and lose any pursuers. 

Cam was waiting for him, leaning against the base of a brilliantly colored maple. Blake started to veer away, but Cam’s voice stopped him. 

“I warned you.” 

“You _what_?” Blake barely managed to stop. 

Cam sighed. “I warned you what would happen if you talked about Lothor.” 

“But everyone knows-“ 

Cam stood abruptly and shook his head. “No. They don’t. He doesn’t exist here.” 

Blake was officially lost. “Here?” 

Cam looked over his shoulder. “They’re following you.” 

“Cam, I can’t go back in there!” Blake stared at Cam. The ground shuddered again, hard enough to make him stagger, and Cam – unaffected by the motion – reached out to steady with an almost sad look on his face. 

“You don’t have a choice.” 

Blake couldn’t believe it. Cam, who obviously knew what he was talking about, knew it was real, was going to send him back to an institution. 

“I’m not going,” he said, and ran. 

Cam was faster than he was. Blake hadn’t gotten more than a few dozen yards into the trees when he felt Cam tackle him from behind and bring him down. “I’m trying to help you!” Cam hissed. “We’re from the same place, Blake, remember? But it’s _not real_ here. You can’t talk about it.” 

Blake suddenly remembered how weird Cam had acted, before this insanity had started. How Cam had gone into a burning building to save him and Hunter, and when he came back, he hadn’t acted quite like himself. 

“When-“ 

“I don’t know.” Blake felt Cam climb off of him, and he let Cam pull him to his feet. “You said you were fighting without your powers.” 

“But after that… I saw…” 

“They’re making you see things,” Cam whispered. “But if you don’t get out soon, it won’t ever stop.” 

* * *

_Consequence_

“Blake!” Hunter’s voice was growing hoarse. “Blake!” 

“Hunter-“ Shane began. 

“Shut up!” Hunter rounded on Shane furiously. “This is your fault!” 

“My fault?” Shane glared back. “I didn’t do anything!” 

“Yeah, that’s the problem.” Hunter reached out and grabbed Shane’s collar, dragging him forward. 

“Guys!” Tori inserted herself between the two of them and pushed them apart. “This isn’t helping us find Blake.” 

Hunter released his grip, turning away. 

“Dude, Cam,” Dustin was saying from a prudent distance away. “Can’t you tell us _anything_?” 

“Dustin, I told you.” Cam sounded as if he were nearing the end of an already short rope. “The system. Is down.” 

“We should get back,” Shane said into the resulting silence. “Sensei will know what to do.” 

Tori put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “We’ll find him, Hunter.” Hunter didn’t answer, but he didn’t push her away either. “We will,” Tori repeated insistently. 

Jaw clenched, Hunter nodded once. 

* * *

“You actually lost Blake,” Cam said flatly. 

“Weren’t you listening to me?” Dustin’s voice took on a plaintive note. 

Cam closed his eyes briefly, as if trying to gain patience. “I can’t look for him until I fix the system,” he said finally. “Our powers won’t work either.” 

“Why not?” Shane asked. “Aren’t the morphers older than Ninja Ops?” 

“It’s very, very complicated.” Cam gave him the type of look normally reserved for Dustin. “I don’t have time to explain if you want it fixed.” 

“Rangers.” It took the remaining Rangers several minutes to locate Sensei in the dimly lit room. “I do not believe Lothor will seriously harm Blake.” 

“Why not?” Hunter demanded. 

“In the past, Lothor has shown much more interest in turning Blake – and you, Hunter – evil. I believe Blake will be much more useful to him alive. Lothor will simply try to warp his mind.” 

“Oh, that’s great,” Hunter snarled. “As if that’s any better.” 

“On the contrary, Hunter.” Sensei’s voice sharpened. “It gives us time to find him.” 

“Can you take this discussion outside?” Cam broke in irritably from underneath the console. 

“That will not be necessary.” Sensei would have had a slight smile if he had had a human face. As it was, his whiskers twitched slightly and smoothed out. “Lothor’s monster has returned.” 

“Dude, how does he _know_ that?” Dustin whispered. 

“He’s a ninja master,” Shane whispered back. “He knows everything.” 

Tori rolled her eyes and pointed to the viewscreen which had just flickered to life. “Guys?” On it, the monster they had seen earlier was once again in the streets of Blue Bay Harbor. 

“Hey, way to go, Cam!” Dustin reached over and gave Cam a congratulatory slap. A clunk sounded from underneath the screen, and it went dark again. 

“Dustin. Please.” If the rope had been short before, it was almost microscopic now, and frayed to boot. 

“Sorry,” Dustin mumbled. 

“It’s mine,” Hunter said suddenly, and dashed for the stairs. 

“Hunter, wait!” Sensei called, but Hunter was already gone. “A direct confrontation without your powers is not advisable!” 

“We’ll find Blake, Sensei,” Shane said confidently before following Hunter, Dustin and Tori on his heels. 

“Cam hasn’t let us down yet,” Tori called over her shoulder, waving her morpher. 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Cam muttered. Upon emerging, he saw Sensei staring almost indignantly at the empty doorway. “It wasn’t my idea, Dad,” he said after a moment. “You’re the one who chose them to be Rangers.” 

“You must trust them, Cameron.” Sensei turned back, once again the picture of calm. “As they trust you.” 

“It won’t take long.” Cam looked at the panel that had been the original source of the problem. “I hope.” 

* * *

The monster was prowling the streets as if searching for something when they found it. Either it had disposed of the surrounding civilians or they had wisely chosen to stay indoors, for there was no one to be seen. 

The Wind Rangers caught up with Hunter, pulling him back just as he started a charge towards the monster that would very likely have been suicidal. “We can’t go after it head on,” Shane whispered. “Not without our powers.” 

“You got a better idea?” Hunter hissed back. 

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Shane smirked. 

The monster still stalked through the empty streets, with more of a sense of purpose than ever. “Rangers!” Its voice was deeply distorted. “Show yourselves!” It clearly knew they were there. “I will destroy this city!” To prove its point, it crossed its arms and fired a blast at a nearby car. The car skidded into a pole and exploded, knocking the pole over in a shower of smoke and sparks. 

“I never liked this place anyway,” Hunter’s voice drawled. “Then again, I don’t like you either,” he added. 

The monster’s head snapped up. “Where are you?” it growled. 

“Here.” The smoke was swept aside to show Hunter balancing arrogantly on the toppled pole, live wires snaking around his feet. 

The monster roared and darted towards him, firing another blast. Hunter rolled forward, grabbing the end of a severed power line in one gloved hand and shoving it directly into the monster’s abdomen. The shock knocked the monster back several yards, blue lines of electricity crawling over its body. 

“Now, Dustin!” The ground underneath the monster suddenly caved in, and the monster sank. A flood of water from a broken pipe turned the ground to mud. The monster found itself caught in a sticky morass, barely able to move. 

“My turn.” Shane spread his arms, and a hot dry wind sprang up, sucking the moisture out of the mud. The monster was buried up to the neck in a substance with the consistency of concrete. It looked frantically from one Ranger to the next. 

“What did you do with my brother?” Hunter crouched in front of it, face cold and menacing. 

Inexplicably, the monster laughed. 

“Hey-“ Hunter started, but he never got the chance to finish the sentence. The monster exploded out of the trap, knocking the Wind Rangers off their feet and grabbing Hunter by the throat. It rushed forward, dragging Hunter along until it slammed him into the side of a building. Hunter jerked, blood spilling down the corner of his mouth. He spat red into the monster’s face. 

“Like I’d tell you what Lothor’s doing to your brother,” the monster scoffed. 

“Dude, I think you just did,” Dustin remarked, climbing to his feet. 

“Guys, can you hear me?” Cam’s voice crackled out of their morphers. “Try it now.” 

Hunter’s fist shot out, connecting at the same spot where he’d hit the monster earlier. It let him go and staggered back. Hunter nearly fell as well, catching his balance just in time. “Thunder Storm!” He coughed. “Ranger Form!” 

“Ninja Storm! Ranger Form!” the Winds echoed. 

The monster hissed and vanished in a cloud of white smoke. 

“What, again?” Dustin complained. “What’s up with that?” 

“Doesn’t matter. We know where Blake is. He’s gotta be on Lothor’s ship.” 

“It’s not going to be that easy to get him out of it,” Cam said. “Get back to Ninja Ops.” 

“What do you mean, I can’t go after him?” Back at Ninja Ops, Hunter glared at Cam. “I got onto Lothor’s ship once, didn’t I?” 

“And you were caught. No. I’m going. I’ve got the Samurai Star Chopper.” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding.” 

“You guys just be ready with a distraction.” Cam looked at Shane. 

“Shouldn’t we all go?” Shane asked. 

Cam shook his head. “It’s too much to risk.” 

“I’m going after my brother!” Hunter insisted. 

Cam slammed a hand down on the table. “You’ll stay down here with everyone else.” He stared into Hunter’s eyes with a look none of the others could decipher, and Hunter looked away first. 

“Fine,” he muttered. 

“We’ll strike in six hours,” Cam said, turning to the Wind Rangers. 

“Why then?” Tori wanted to know. “Wouldn’t it be better to go sooner?” 

“That late? They’ll be expecting you all to be asleep or something.” On anyone else, the smile Cam gave then would have been a smirk. “Get some rest now.” 

* * *

Lothor’s ship was dark and silent as Cam crept on board. “Too easy,” he whispered in an inadvertent mirror of Blake’s words several hours earlier. He’d barely seen any of Lothor’s fighters at all. Wary and alert, he moved silently down a corridor, senses stretched for any indication of movement. 

The crackling of his communicator nearly sent him through the ceiling. Once his heart had slowed, he clamped a hand on it. “What?” he whispered harshly. 

“What kind of distraction?” Shane asked. 

“I don’t know! Think of something,” he returned and shut it off. 

Cam snuck towards the lower levels of the ship, working on the assumption that holding cells were almost always on the lower levels of any structure. His route took him past the main bridge, though, and while looking to make certain that no one saw him, he noticed Blake on the far side. 

“Always the hard way,” he murmured. The bridge was the first place he’d seen anything living. Apparently even Kelzaks and monsters slept, for that was what they appeared to be doing. “Lucky me.” Cam picked his way through the hopefully unconscious forms, working his way towards Blake. Lothor himself was not to be seen, nor were his generals or nieces. 

Cam made it across the bridge without incident. Blake lay on a table, connected by various wires to some sort of machine. His eyes flickered back and forth underneath their lids, as though he were dreaming. Cam shook his shoulder gently. “Blake,” he whispered. No response. Cam shook him harder. “Blake,” he said urgently. Blake moaned slightly. 

Cam regarded him for a moment. He had no idea what the machine was, what it was doing, or what the consequences of severing Blake from it might be. Making a decision, he grabbed a handful of wire and pulled. 

Blake’s eyes instantly snapped open, and he screamed just as a shrill alarm began to wail. The complement on the bridge began to awaken and notice the intruder. Cam flicked his communicator on. “Shane.” 

“What’s up?” 

“You know that distraction? Now would be a really good time for it.” 

“Gotcha.” Shane signed off. 

A few seconds later, red lights flashed and a different set of sirens went off. Cam turned back to Blake. The Navy Ranger had stopped screaming almost as soon as he’d started, but he looked completely dazed and in no condition to help. The rest of the wires came out easily enough, and Cam hauled Blake off the table. “Let’s go.” 

The Kelzaks on the bridge milled around in a confused mass. As Cam supported a stumbling Blake down the corridor, he heard Lothor arrive on the bridge. 

“What’s going on?” The reply was inaudible, not that Cam was trying to hear it. “They’re doing _what_?” That was loud enough to hear through any number of decks. Cam suppressed a smile. Whatever Shane had come up with must have been a hell of a job. 

He was nearly to the chopper when he ran into the first sign of serious resistance. Marah and Kapri wandered right into his path; whether it was accident or design, he didn’t know. “A little lost Ranger,” Kapri started. Cam bowled her over, momentum carrying him past her. 

“Hey!” Marah complained. The sound of dozens of Kelzaks reached his ears, but Cam didn’t dare take the time to look back. 

“Surround his…his… thingy!” Kapri shouted. The Kelzaks closer to his Chopper began to obey, but it was too late. Cam flung Blake into the back and dove in after him. It was a straight shot out of the hangar, and Cam took it, blasting his way through the doors to Lothor’s scream of rage. Lothor wasn’t organized enough to send pursuit immediately and Cam pressed his advantage to the fullest extent. 

He hadn’t quite counted on Blake, though. 

“Let… let me out!” Cam felt hands reaching past him. He pushed Blake back. Blake looked terrified. “Let me out!” Whatever he had seen while on Lothor’s ship seemed to still be with him. 

“Blake, it’s all right,” he said in as soothing a voice as he could manage. 

“Get away from me!” Blake scrabbled around in the extremely close quarters of the Chopper, and if Cam didn’t do something quickly, he was going to open the canopy before Cam managed to reenter the atmosphere. 

“Sorry, Blake.” He turned around just far enough to give Blake a light tap on the temple. In his morphed state, that was enough to knock Blake out cold. “Great,” Cam said to the controls of the Chopper. The Chopper didn’t answer, which was just as well. 

“Well?” Hunter demanded back in Ninja Ops. 

Cam looked up from over Blake’s prone form. “The corner of your mouth is bleeding again,” he said in reply. 

A look of annoyance settled over Hunter’s face, and he dabbed at the point in question. “It’s fine. How’s Blake?” 

“I’m not sure yet.” 

“Cam-“ Hunter started. 

Blake’s groan of awakening interrupted him. Cam turned back quickly. “Blake?” 

The Navy Ranger blinked. “Cam?” he asked uncertainly. 

“That’s right. Do you know where you are?” Cam helped Blake sit up slowly. 

Blake cradled his head in his hands for a moment before squinting and looking around. His pupils were dilated far past what was normal, and Cam wondered if he could focus his eyes at all. “Ninja Ops?” he offered tentatively. 

“Blake!” Hunter bounded forward, shoving Cam aside. “You’re all right!” He reached for his little brother, but Blake abruptly shoved him away. Almost too quickly to register, his eyes flicked from the bruise at Hunter’s throat to the blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth and back. Before Hunter could react, Blake had jumped backwards, putting his back to the wall and his hands up in a defensive position. 

“You’re dead,” he said, breathing very quickly. “Stay away from me. Stay away.” 

“Dea-“ Hunter stared, confused. “I’m not dead. It’s me, Blake.” 

“I didn’t kill you. I didn’t. I didn’t touch any of you!” Blake looked searchingly from one Ranger to another. 

“Nobody’s dead,” Cam said, walking forward slowly. “Everything’s fine.” 

Blake lowered his hands slowly, as if seeing he were really seeing Cam for the first time. “They’re not?” Confusion etched its way across his features as well. 

Cam shook his head. “See for yourself.” 

Blake abruptly sagged against the wall and slid down it, burying his face in his hands. “That’s right. I forgot. None of this is real.” He started to laugh, a low bitter sound. “This is all in my head, and none of you are real.” 

* * *

_Effect_

“Zurgane!” Lothor barked. “Why aren’t those cameras working! It’s been hours since they got away!” 

“I… I don’t know!” Zurgane turned towards Chuubo, but Chuubo only shrugged. “Maybe they found them, sir.” 

“They’d better not have,” Lothor grumbled. “Send – what’s its name again? Oh, it doesn’t matter.” He waved a hand irritably. “Send it down.” 

“Is this really going to work?” Marah hissed to Kapri. “We let him get away!” 

“Of course we did. Idiot.” Kapri rolled her eyes. “Once they see what we did to the Navy Ranger, they’ll be too scared to fight.” 

“Oh.” Marah thought for a moment. “Um… what exactly did we do?” 

“If you were any dumber, you’d have roots. Honestly,” Kapri huffed. “We screwed up his _brain_ , something you’d realize if you actually had one. It’ll work fine.” 

“Won’t they fix him?” Marah asked doubtfully. 

Kapri sighed loudly and turned to the viewscreen. “Did we send the monster yet, Uncle?” 

“Yes, yes.” Lothor leaned forward to watch the screen. “Aren’t those cameras working yet, Zurgane?” 

“Er…” 

“Why do I even bother,” Lothor muttered. On the screen, the monster touched down inside Blue Bay Harbor for the third time in two days. “Ah, now we’ll see something fun,” he said, brightening. 

The Crimson Ranger showed up on screen, alone. He faced the monster, radiating anger in every line of his spandex-clad body. “I’m going to take you down, once and for all!” 

“So predictable,” Lothor said. “He could come up with a more original line.” 

The monster didn’t answer, just charged forward. It crossed its arms as it had before to send out an energy blast. The Crimson Ranger dodged, just like he had before. He rolled forwards, already positioning himself to deliver a hit to the monster’s ribcage. 

The monster was ready and waiting. It grabbed the Crimson Ranger’s wrist as his hand shot out and used his momentum to flip him over. Quicker than it should have been able to move, it slammed a foot down on his chest and ground him into the street. The Crimson Ranger grabbed at the monster’s ankle, but he was clearly already weakened and his grappling was ineffective. Sparks flew from the point of contact, and the Crimson Ranger writhed in pain. 

Lothor laughed delightedly. “It’s so nice when a plan comes together.” 

“Oh yes, Uncle,” Kapri said. 

“Yeah,” Marah echoed. Her gaze darted to the sides of the screen, where she thought she’d seen the other Rangers a few seconds earlier. But no one else looked like they’d seen them. “Should I tell them?” she whispered to herself. 

“What are you muttering about?” Lothor snapped. 

“Nothing, Uncle,” Marah gasped, surprised. 

“All right, then.” Lothor returned his attention to the battle. The monster had the Crimson Ranger by the throat now, and was throwing him into a nearby building. “The rest of them won’t even show up!” Lothor cackled. 

He was proved wrong only a few seconds later, as the smoke from the Crimson Ranger’s impact with the building cleared and all that was left on the ground was a singed uniform. “What?” 

The monster looked around in confusion. As it turned, a blast from seemingly out of nowhere hit it on the side, sending it skidding. The Green Ranger and the Crimson Ranger stood together, each holding a weapon. The Green Ranger nodded once, and they split up, one running on each side of the monster. At the same time, each attacked. The monster, unable to deal with a double-sided attack, was left floored. 

“Bah,” Lothor snarled. “That’s still only two of them. They can’t defeat it alone.” 

The monster was indeed climbing to its feet, little if any damage done. It stretched, flexing what passed for muscle on its distorted form. Spinning around suddenly, it fired off several energy bursts in different directions. Smoke once again obscured the screen, but the Green Ranger clearly took a direct hit and went straight down. 

The smoke didn’t clear, though. Lothor frowned and edged closer to the screen. Flashes of light were visible from the center of the growing cloud, blue and red and yellow. Without warning, the monster was suddenly flung backwards, impacting a pole and sliding down it. 

The Wind Rangers, accompanied by the Crimson Ranger, stepped proudly out of the smoke. “You’re going down,” the Blue Wind Ranger said cockily. 

“Let’s bring ‘em together, guys!” the Red Ranger added. “Hawk Mode!” 

The three Wind Rangers locked their weapons together and pointed it at the staggering monster. The Crimson Ranger stood back, arms folded arrogantly across his chest. 

“This is ridiculous.” Lothor glared around at his underlings. “They’re not supposed to do this!” 

As he turned back to the screen, the monster was exploding. Ashes rained down as the Rangers struck ridiculously victorious poses. “Bah,” Lothor muttered again. “Let’s see how they handle this. Kapri! Where’s the PAM?” 

“Ooh, lemme do it, Uncle, lemme do it!” Kapri rushed forward. 

“No, I want to!” Marah tried to shoulder her sister out of the way, but Kapri had been expecting it, and stepped aside so that Marah tripped and fell. 

“Just give it to me.” Lothor eyed them. Kapri gulped and fell silent, handing him the PAM without further protest. “Scroll of empowerment, descend!” 

The monster grew, its initially formless mass stretching into the sky and redefining itself into its new body. Lothor’s burgeoning smirk was wiped off his face by the almost immediate advent of not one but both of the Zords belonging to the Thunder Rangers. Within seconds, the Zords had combined to form the Thunder Megazord. 

Lothor growled in disgust and threw himself back into his seat. He scowled further when the Storm Megazord showed up on the battlefield as well. Between the two of them, the Zords managed to thoroughly trounce his monster. Lothor even distinctly heard the Navy Ranger give the order for the final blast. 

“Uh… Lothor?” Chuubo shuffled forward hesitantly, having been shoved towards him by one of the other generals. 

“What is it now?” The brilliant plan to destabilize the Rangers had failed. Perhaps he should have kept the Navy Ranger instead of allowing the Green Ranger to steal him back. 

“The cameras? The ones that you put into the Navy Ranger’s uniform while he was still here? They’re working.” “Are they now. Let’s see what they have to show us, then.” Lothor rubbed his hands together. Perhaps this wouldn’t turn out to be such a complete loss after all. 

The viewscreen flickered a few times, the static slowly clearing away. Once it did, the inside of the Rangers’ secret base was clearly visible. 

“Ah, good, good.” 

Only one out of the four tiny cameras he’d planted appeared to be online, though. Each of the four should have sought shelter somewhere within the Rangers’ base in order to transmit video and audio information to him. It had been a brilliant, scheming plan within a plan. Still, one camera was better than no cameras. But no one was visible, and the camera appeared to be pointing at the doorway to the base rather than at the computer systems or other sensitive equipment. 

As Lothor stared, baffled, the Wind Rangers filed through the door and stood in a line. They were off to the side of the camera, but they were looking straight at it, faces sober. The Crimson Ranger followed them a few seconds later, holding some sort of device in one hand. He stood directly in front of the lens, glaring for all he was worth. 

“Lothor.” The voice was the Navy Ranger’s, and it was coming out of the camera’s audio feed. The Navy Ranger walked slowly into the room, shooting his brother a hard look when the Crimson Ranger moved toward him. The Crimson Ranger subsided and moved off to give the Navy Ranger the spot in front of the lens. 

“You can’t break me that easily, Lothor.” The Navy Ranger straightened and lifted his chin proudly. “No matter what you do to us, we’ll stick together. That won’t ever change. We’re gonna take you down.” He nodded to the Crimson Ranger. 

The Crimson Ranger smirked, lifted the device in his hand, and pressed the single red button in the center. The picture dissolved instantly into static. Lothor slammed a hand down on the arm of his chair. “Whose idea was this, anyway?” He glared at each of his generals in turn, none of whom would meet his eyes, and at his nieces for good measure. “I want you all back here tomorrow with new ideas on how to defeat the Rangers. Got it?” 

A chorus of assents sounded, and a general stampede to get off the bridge ensued. Lothor watched the static on the screen and drummed his fingers restlessly. It had been such a good idea, too. “The life of an evil genius is never easy.” 

* * *

Blake doubled over as soon as the camera exploded. Hunter rushed forward, catching him and supporting his weight. “You didn’t have to do that, bro,” he said worriedly. 

“Yeah, I did,” Blake gritted out. 

Tori came up on Blake’s other side, draping his arm across her shoulders. “Take it easy until your ribs heal, Blake.” 

Blake just looked at her. 

“It’ll be okay, Blake,” Hunter assured him. What had come to pass for a first-aid room was just a few steps away. Cam was already inside; he’d taken a nasty hit during the fight on the ground, but he’d be fine. 

It had taken Hunter a very long time to convince Blake that he wasn’t still dreaming. From what Blake had said, Lothor had subjected him to some all-too-convincing scenarios, each one building on the last. In the end, it was Cam who had had the final say; he had found the cameras in Blake’s uniform and he had come directly to Hunter with them. 

An intense look of relief had crossed Blake’s face at that small exchange. Hunter didn’t know why it was that the short discussion of what to do with the cameras should reassure Blake so much, but it had. Especially when Cam had made a comment regarding Hunter’s propensity for destruction of property, and suggested that he be the one to actually get rid of the cameras. Blake had actually laughed a little at that, and then clutched at his ribs. 

Hunter had then remembered that the monster had _broken_ Blake’s ribs the day before, and had wanted to get it taken care of immediately. Blake had insisted that he be able to use the cameras to tell Lothor he wouldn’t be beaten like that, and Sensei had backed him on the issue. Blake needed closure, he’d said. So while Hunter had waited for Cam to make some sort of trigger to blow up one camera, he’d smashed the other three into unrecognizable pieces. 

Before they could activate it and send Lothor a message, the monster had shown up. They’d gone off to fight; Hunter and Cam had gone first. Blake had once again insisted on being involved; there was no way he could participate in the initial fight, he’d argued, but he could very well pilot his Zord. The Winds had helped him to it before joining in the fight on the ground. 

Both battles had gone quickly, although Cam was left injured in the wake of the first. CyberCam had assured Hunter that his counterpart would be back on his feet in no time. “Since when do you know first aid?” Hunter had asked. CyberCam had just smirked. Hunter found him more annoying when Cam wasn’t around – or at least conscious – for some reason. 

“You all right?” he asked Blake, once they’d gotten Blake lying down and Tori had carefully checked to make sure he hadn’t done any more damage. 

“Fine,” Blake answered, with what was obviously an attempt at a reassuring smile. 

“Hey, it’s my job to cheer you up, bro,” Hunter told him. “Get some rest, okay?” 

Blake nodded, and Hunter turned away. Preoccupied with Cam, he didn’t see the expression of doubt that still shadowed Blake’s features, and because Tori didn’t know Blake well enough, she didn’t see it either. 

“Tori, please join the others.” Tori looked up, surprised to see Sensei in the doorway. He scurried up to stand near Blake. 

“Okay,” she said with a slightly puzzled look. 

Sensei smiled at Blake, insofar as a guinea pig was capable of smiling. “If he were not my son, I would know it in my heart,” he said, nodding towards Cam. “Just as you would know if Hunter were not your brother.” 

“I did know, didn’t I.” Blake smiled at that, his first real smile since Cam had pulled him out of Lothor’s ship. 

“Now I suggest you follow your brother’s advice.” Sensei gracefully flipped back down to the floor. “Hunter.” He raised his voice. “Join us outside, please.” 

“Thanks, Sensei,” Blake said suddenly. 

Sensei nodded. “Welcome home, Blake.”


End file.
